A collection of tech problems I've come across and what fixed them.

Tag Archives: Apple

Need to install OSX Mavericks from a USB drive? The methods used for older versions of OSX no longer work, but Lifehacker has a great set up instructions for getting this done for OSX Mavericks. Check it out:

A MacBook Pro came across my desk that needed to be set up for a new user. That means a re-installation (or recovery, or restoration…whatever) of OSX. I wouldn’t want to get a “new” laptop to find someone else’s junk all over it, so I assume no one else does either. At any rate, Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is installed and of course the product key is nowhere to be found. Even with that in hand, calling Microsoft to try to talk them into giving me another activation for that key was not something I really wanted to have to deal with.

In my case, the license wasn’t moving to a different computer; I just needed a way to keep my already-activated license on a MBP that needed a re-install of OSX. The steps described at the site above worked great!

First, a little background on Apple’s “Bonjour” protocol is in order. Then I’ll get to the good stuff:

Apple’s iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) use their “Bonjour” protocol to discover and set up communications between each other. This is Apple’s version of “Zero Configuration Networking”, which allows devices to communicate with each other on a network without an administrator having to configure each device. This is the magic that makes Apple products “just work” when it comes to connecting your iPad to your Apple TV to display video, or to connect your Mac computer to that shiny new wireless printer you just bought.